Clothes-pin.



F. COMEAU.

Patented June 25, 1912.

lJNlflE FRANK COIVIEAU, OF LOUISBURG, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA.

CLOTHES-PIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1912.

Application filed April 26, 1911. Serial No. 623,540.

To all whom t may concern Be 1t known that l, F RANK COMEAU, a subjectof the King of England, residing at Louisburg, 1n the county of CapeBreton, Province of Nova Scot-1a, Dominion of Canada, have invented anew and useful Clothes-Pin, of which the following 1s a specification.

rlhis invention relates to clothes pins.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a strong, simple,durable, and comparatively inexpensive clothes pin which may be easilyand quickly manipulated and which is adapted to remain in either open orclosed position until the operator moves it to the other position.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figurel is a view in elevation of the clothes pin of the present invention inclosed position; Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the constructionillustrated in Fig. l, showing the spring retracted and the jaws open;Fig. 3 is a section on the line Y-Y of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a section onthe line X-X of Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of thejaws of the clothes pin.

Like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures of the drawing.

The clothes `pin of the present invention comprises a body indicatedgenerally by A,

a pair of jaws indicatedl generally by B and C, pivotally connected withthe body A and adapted automatically to remain in either open or closedposition, and a sliding U- shaped spring D adapted, when shoved in, asshown in F ig. l, to hold the jaws B and C in the locked posit-ion, andwhen drawn out as shown in Fig. 2, to hold said jaws positively in openposition.

The body A of the clothes pin preferably is made up of a metallic casingl, in which is mounted a filling block 2. The casing l as shown in Fig.l is provided with downwardly extending wings 3 in which are pivoted thejaws Bland C, as indicated at t, said jaws being pivoted intermediatetheir ends. rlhe jaws B and C are formed at their outer ends withmeeting faces 5 which, when said jaws are in closed position, as shownin Fig. l, contact with each other, and form a close fit. The innervfaces of the jaws B and C are cut away, as indicated at 6 to provide aspace to receive the clothes line and clothes. The out away portions 6at their upper ends are shaped to produce right Vangular shoulders 7which, when the clothes pin is in open position, as shown in Fig. 2,meet closely at their inner ends so as to limit the dist-ance to whichthe clothes pin can be fitted downward over the clothes line. In otherwords, the shoulders 7 serve as abutments to prevent the clothes pinfrom being moved too far with relation to the clothes line and theclothes. At their upper ends, the jaws B and G are formed with innerfaces 8 which are arranged at such angle with relation to each other asto contact as shown in Fig. 2, when the jaws are open, thereby limitingthe eX- tent of the opening movement of said jaws.

The spring D for holding the jaws 'B and C in either open or closedposition preferably is U-shape and consists of the approximatelyparallel resilient arms 9 9 which at their free ends are bent orotherwise shaped to produce the limiting stops l0, the outer portions ofwhich stops engage the lower edges of the metallic casing l, when thepin is opened, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to limit the upward movement ofthe spring, and the inner portions of said resilient arms 9, asindicated at l0, engage the outer faces of the jaws B and C and slidethereon, so as to move said jaws from open to closed position and viceversa. Adjacent their upper ends, the arms 9 are curved outwardly asindicated at 12 to provide means to limit the downward movement of thespring D, as shown in Fig. l, said outward bends 12 cngaging themetallic casing l and preventing the spring D from being shoved down toofar.

As shown in Fig. 4L, the arms 9 slide in suitable grooves 14 formed inthe filling block 2 and in suitable grooves 15 formed in the metalliccasing l, said grooves l5 being perforated, as indicated at 16 in Fig. lto reduce the friction on the spring arms 9.

Constructed as described, the operation of the clothes pin is thought tobe obvious. By

t-he body toform a handle for manipulating' the spring, the free ends ofsaid spring being slidable on'the outer faces of the jaws from points onone side of the pivots thereof to points on the other side of saidpivots, said spring serving'to hold the jaws posi- Y tively in open orclosed position, and means for limiting the sliding movements of saidspring, said limiting means engaging the spring 'when the spring isholding the aws open.

2. A clothes pin comprising a body made up 'of a casing and a iillingmember, the casing and filling member being formed in their sides withregistering grooves, said easing being provided with downwardlyextending wings, a pair of clamping jaws pivoted in said downwardlyextending wings, said jaws having upper and lower sets of faces arrangedat an angle to each other, the lower set of faces being adapted tooontact when the jaws are closed and the upper set of faces beingadapted to contact when the jaws are open, said jaws also having cutaway inner faces formed at their upper portions with square shouldersadapted to aline with each other when the jawsare open to form a stop,and an approximately U-shaped operating spring extending through thegrooves in said casing and filling member,

and slidable therein, said spring having. limiting means at the upperand lower ends thereof to limit its sliding movement with relation tosaid casing, the free ends of said spring bearing against the outerfaces of said jaws and slidable thereon to move said jaws from oneposition to another.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

A FRANK COMEAU. W'itnesses Y PORTER W'nioox, ALONZO MARTELL.

Copies o f this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G.

